Work on the Depot reconstruction project in Marlinton is coming along according to Tom Shaffer of Allegheny Restoration. Construction has been ongoing for about six weeks now, and the crew has been staying busy.

Shaffer said they had to jack the office building up five-and-a-half inches to replace rotted out 8x8 beams, but the bathroom walls are framed and ready for the plumber and electrician.

"Rusty the plumber here in town is going to plumb it, and Greenbrier Electric out of Lewisburg is going to wire it for us," said Shaffer.

Shaffer said at this rate, the crew will have the walls up on the depot building next week and he expects to have his roofers here within a month. Unfortunately, the depot lost its status as a historic building as a result of the March 2008 fire.

"On all the [National Historic Register] sites, to keep it on the society list, 60 percent of the building has to be saved," explained Shaffer. "This instance, more than 60 percent of it was already burnt."

Shaffer said they were able to salvage some of the original flooring and material from the end of the building that wasn't damaged by the fire.

Marlinton Mayor Joe Smith said the crew plans to use that salvaged material to establish the original look of the depot on the end of the building facing route 39.

Shaffer said Allegheny Restoration has refurbished more than half of the covered bridges in West Virginia and they also restore old barns and farmhouses.

"It's kind of unusual we get to do a new construction. Usually we're patching up all the old stuff," joked Shaffer. "It's going to come out nice when we're done with it - just a little bit of time getting there."